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Tuesday, July 31, 2018

My Speech at The Big Pro-Gun Rally in Tally

If you weren't able to be in Tallahassee this weekend, here's my speech courtesy of Utah Gun Exchange.

Despite the entire rally being recorded by UGE and the large UGETube banner at bottom right, I can't find the rally actually posted to UGETube. Instead, you can only find it on Facebook.

I had a great time at the rally and was surprised at how much applause I received and how people appreciated my message. While I never once expected hostility or rudeness, I confess that I anticipated a bit of reticence along the lines of "Well, I see that you're on our side, but I don't know if I should believe what you're saying." As you can see, though, I received such applause that I had to keep talking over it because I'd have run out of time otherwise.

I'd say we had between 250 and 500 attendees. It's hard to tell because most of them stayed out of the middle (which was a big open area filled with bricks that retained heat) and instead were to the sides and back, sheltering in the shade. I'm told we had more people than the March For Our Lives / Road to Change/ Whatever Bloomberg Is Calling It This Week people, which is both satisfying and wholly unsurprising.

More than just a counterpoint to the Road to Change tour, the event was aimed at showing something the pro-gun movement lacks: diversity.

In a campaign largely dominated by white, straight males, Erin Palette offered a stark alternative as a transgender supporter of the Second Amendment. Her message centered around her belief that “gun rights are queer rights.”

As founder of the pro-gun LGBTQ training group Operation Blazing Sword, Palette’s goal is not to sell guns, but to help people make informed decisions about them through training and education. She hopes that gun owners and the LGBT community can bridge the political and cultural gaps that divide them.

“I want both sides of the country to stop seeing each other as opponents or enemies,” Palette said. “We need to see each other as people.”

More information on what the rally was like and how it went will be available on ACP episode 17, releasing Friday for patrons and next Monday for everyone.